You don't actually need to read this diary. It's just a response to a diary by FishOutofWater a few weeks back: eKos: Astounding. Warning from our Elder Brothers. That's the one you should be reading: . I haven't stopped thinking about it, and wanted to share it with those who missed it then. Here's the opening paragraph:
The elder brothers, the Kogi people, who retreated through dense Colombian jungle to high mountain sanctuaries from lost cities, rather than be conquered by Europeans or converted by missionaries, have sent their first emissary ever to Europe to warn us that we are are killing the earth.
One remarkable thing about this story is that the Kogi people have successfully kept their connections to their traditions and history, have stood up for and won back rights to their lands, and, having recognized the impacts of climate change on their world, have reached out to the rest of us to share their concerns and insights. Go read that diary, mine's just a pale shadow.
I was deeply moved by this story, due to the bravery and conviction of those who reached out. It takes a remarkable amount of conviction and purpose to make such a deliberate, effective attempt to communicate with the rest of the world. I've been privileged to spend some time in isolated places, where the local culture was still dominant. There's a strong Western tradition of romanticizing unknown and exotic cultures, but from experience, generally the core difference is the tools available. People fight and fuck, are generous and greedy and well-intentioned and vicious, all the world around.
"If we act well, the world can go on" is a quote from one of the films of/by the Kogi. It's something that I try to live by. I've passed up lazy easy jobs that would have me floating at 6 figures by now because I wanted to act well. I'm glad of the choices that I've made, and I know that I'm still not acting well enough, that I could be doing a lot more. I spend a lot of energy and resources to sustain a lifestyle more luxurious than necessary, and burn a lot of oil in the process.
I honestly don't know if acting well is going to be enough. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop. I feel that I'm trying to resist massive, powerful forces - political and financial interests, greed and indifference and the lulling comforts of luxury. It's easy to get cynical about the motives behind the most well-intentioned of initiatives, or their effectiveness. And it's easy to surrender to the fundamental hopelessness of trying to stop the juggernaut of consumerism whose flag is the Invisible Hand, and has 6874870893 mouths (http://www.census.gov/...)
It seems like it'd be much simpler to just go with the flow, and see how things pan out. And likely I'm doing that more than I should. Which is why a diary, and a story like this, is so inspirational for me.